All-In [49613]
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Joined: 12/10/98
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Tigers and Fairy Godparents and Luke Warm (long of course)
Jan 27, 2003, 12:00 AM
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In cyberspace, no one can see you ... and no one can hold you accountable. So the veneer of civility and the acceptance of human frailties are etched away, replaced by the oozing bile of bruised feelings unencumbered by the layers of socializaton that accompany face-to-face exchanges of idea.
It is, in fact, communication at its most base level. College educations and five-year-old emotions. "Look at me!" Lookie, lookie lookielookielookie!" The communucative equivalent of the annoying clown who keeps sticking his face behind the announcers at a football game.
Except they don't just want attention. In this case, what they want is a win. A Clemson win.
Nothing wrong with that. We all want to win. But it's what happens when the win doesn't come that's disturbing.
If they don't get it, it's a personal affront. No longer is it, "Rats! Clemson lost." It's "Clemson made me feel bad by losing." They want visceral satisfaction, and they don't really care who or what they have to damage to get it. Like five-year-olds who can't get what they want.
"We want the world and we want it now."
Why else would that woman in orange and white hang over the rail and berate the athletic director? Did she really think he can't see the game that unfolded in front of him?
No...she feels the loss is a personal affront to herself, as if the Tigers went out and lost just to displease her. And she wants someone to do something about it, by God. I bet if she could find a lawyer willing to take the case, she'd sue the school for the value of the time she lost watching the game, not to mention the emotional suffering.
She can't see the irony of such behavior in the guise of supporting her school. We used to joke about such behavior as Cootish. Sad to say the poultry virus seems to have taken hold in our own fans.
I call them fans, but perhaps that's stretching things. They are grown-up 5-year-olds throwing typewritten hissy fits when the team disappoints them.
Someone recently posted the condition called "My opinion is more valid because I'm young and I haven't had to feel the consequences of my unbridled criticism yet" syndrome. There's probably a great deal of truth in that, but alas, it's no long a young person's disease.
It's like believing in fairy godparents, then wanting to hurt your parents when you find out they aren't real.
Folks, life and sports are full of disappointments. If anyone told you differently, they lied. And the Tigers aren't fairy godparents. These guys and gals are just college kids, trying to find their way in life and provide entertainment for you along the way. They aren't going to grant all your requests, turn water to wine or fill whatever holes there are in your life that would force you to stew in your own juices and lash out in the comfortable isolation of ISP addresses.
For those answers, you need to look inside yourself. Support them armed with the knowledge that it can be tough sometimes, or don't support them at all. Be on fire or cold. Luke Warm was a mediocre cowboy actor and a lousy way to live your life.
Cheer the Tigers, knowing that sometimes no matter how hard you clap Tinkerbell just isn't gonna come back to life. Or don't cheer them. But don't say "I'll cheer when they win a few games," as if withholding your support is somehow going to make them feel the same strange hollowness that must rattle around in your craw.
Ever been a parent? Ever loved someone? Was your love of that person contingent on them being able to tie their shoe or cook fried chicken perfectly the first time? The second? The third? When?
There are disappointments in any relationship. There are failings. And if you plan to measure your willingness to be a parent or mate by the other person's success, you're gonna make a miserable partner.
The love of Clemson transcends whether or not the team has a disappointing game ... or season. At least it should. And if you wish to measure your love of Clemson by how many games are won or lost, then you are not going to be missed.
Don't expect them to fill your life. And don't take it out on them when they can't make you feel more important.
I know a lot of y'all aren't anywhere near the sort of Luke Warm guy mentioned, and I apologize to you for dragging you through this. I just hope that some folks who seem hell-bent on bringing Clemson little lower to make themselves feel more important can at least reflect on what ... and why ... they're doing so.
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